Crusty_Crab Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 This was found in the Pliocene marine Pico Formation of Southern California. I'm leaning towards a marine mammal but I'm not even sure if this is bone or part of an echinoid test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Interesting, especially last photo. Is it calcium carbonate? @Boesse My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineR Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 (edited) I am heavily leaning toward a balanid barnacle such as one pictured from Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraconcavus_pacificus#/media/File%3AParaconcavus_pacificus_-_inat_4880688.jpg EDIT: This is a barnacle. I am heavily leaning toward a barnacle and not necessarily toward a Paraconcavus specifically. See Table 4 on page 296 for megafossils of the Pico and Townsley Formations: https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0334h/report.pdf Also See: Squires, R.L. (2012). Late Pliocene Megafossils of the Pico Formation, Newhall Area, Los Angeles County, Southern California. Contributions in science. http://www.csun.edu/~hcgeo004/Newhall.pdf Edited December 30, 2021 by DPS Ammonite 1 3 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 I think this is a plate from a whale barnacle (Coronula diadema). Here are a couple pictures from an interesting article -https://hakaimagazine.com/features/what-whale-barnacles-know/ If I had found this, I would try to contact the researcher in the article to verify the ID and see if he could use it in his studies. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty_Crab Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 @DPS Ammonite and @Al Dente Thanks so much for your help. A whale barnacle would make sense since there are many cetacean bones as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 Wow, I missed this topic until now. I have been looking for one of these for a long time, being a whale and Barnacle enthusiast. Cool find! They have been used to map whale migration, being quite specific to single whale species. (Cryptolepas on grey whales, Coronula on humpbacks looks most like yours), seemingly evolved from turtle barnacles like Chelonibia. The recent variety is sometimes for sale as complete specimens, but for one they tend to be expensive, and on the other hand the online shops I have seen them in sell to much taxydermy for my taste. Best Regards, J 1 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty_Crab Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 4 hours ago, Mahnmut said: Wow, I missed this topic until now. I have been looking for one of these for a long time, being a whale and Barnacle enthusiast. Cool find! They have been used to map whale migration, being quite specific to single whale species. (Cryptolepas on grey whales, Coronula on humpbacks looks most like yours), seemingly evolved from turtle barnacles like Chelonibia. The recent variety is sometimes for sale as complete specimens, but for one they tend to be expensive, and on the other hand the online shops I have seen them in sell to much taxydermy for my taste. Best Regards, J Thanks! This doesn't seem to be well documented in the Pico Formation. I see that there was a paper using fossil specimens to map migration as well. https://www.pnas.org/content/116/15/7377 I think I'll contact the author if he is interested, although it appears to be mineralized and so may not be useful in isotope analysis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 WOW! @Crusty_Crab very nice find! These are extremely rare; I've kept an eye out in the Purisima Formation near Santa Cruz for 15 years and not found a single plate. I highly encourage you to contact the author of that study, and if you're interested in making the specimen available for study let me know if I can help guide you to a particular institution. congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty_Crab Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 @Boesse, @Al Dente, @Mahnmut, @DPS Ammonite Thanks so much for your input. As a follow up, I contacted the primary author of the above paper. The specimen is now with him and hopefully more research will be done as a result. I am told that this work may also be done by underserved young adults as part of their educational journey. I am proud to support such work and you should all know of your contribution. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted October 6, 2022 Share Posted October 6, 2022 Glade to see that UC Berkeley is still interested in local inverts. Are the young adults college or high school aged? My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty_Crab Posted October 6, 2022 Author Share Posted October 6, 2022 3 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: Glade to see that UC Berkeley is still interested in local inverts. Are the young adults college or high school aged? He is actually with Helena College of the University of Montana system. I understand the students are college students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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